Senate Democrats Gain Early Advantage In Campaign-funding Debate

October 17, 1999|By New York Times News Service.

WASHINGTON — Democrats scored a parliamentary victory in the Senate Friday that appeared to guarantee them test votes in the week ahead on a wide-ranging bill to overhaul campaign finance laws and on a more limited measure to ban unregulated donations to political parties.

The maneuvering seemed to catch the measures' chief foe, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), off guard. But it was not clear that either vote, on the Democrats' effort to shut off debate on the two measures, would accomplish anything even if supporters mustered the 60 votes needed.

The measures were introduced Friday as amendments to under-lying legislation, which would face further procedural hurdles in any case.

Barring an unforeseen twist, however, senators will commit themselves in principle next Tuesday on whether to allow the parties to continue to receive un-

regulated six-figure contributions, the "soft money" that critics denounce as a corrupting influence on the political system.

At the very least, Democrats could use the roll-call votes on their two amendments as a potent campaign issue next year.

"We're going to answer the question `Who's for soft money?' " said Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.), who, along with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), is offering the underlying bill, which would ban the unlimited donations. "Are you for a system of legalized bribery or against it?"

The arcane procedural victory that the Democrats achieved Friday occurred when they offered the two amendments for consideration and then, when there was no objection, were able to demand the cloture votes on them.

The Democrats then refused to set aside their amendments to make room for Republican amendments, fearing that McConnell, a master of the Senate rules, would figure out a way to block the cloture votes.

"What we're doing here is that Democrats are blocking Republicans from offering amendments," said McConnell, head of the Senate Republicans' campaign committee, who maintains that the legislation would infringe on the Constitution's free-speech protections. "We've been shut out."

Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, the assistant Democratic leader, shot back, "The majority now knows how we feel all the time."

McCain, standing by his bill but wary of votes that could lead nowhere except to a political clobbering of fellow Republicans, called the situation on the floor "gridlocked right now," and said he hoped that on Monday he could talk Democrats into "unsticking it." But he said the maneuvering had become extremely complicated, with many competing agendas.

All in all, "what the Democrats are doing is trying to preserve their options," McCain said in an interview. "I think the Republicans are scared to death there will be more Sam Brownbacks."